Hyderabad: Old City Bonalu ends on high-octane note

Hyderabad: After ten days of traditional celebrations and worship of Goddess Mahankali, the annual Bonalu festival concluded in the Old City on Monday with a colourful procession amidst the teen maar band and dances by the folk artists, followed by the immersion of ghatams on the Musi River bank, Nayapul.

The jatara was taken out on a well-decorated elephant, Rupavathi, carrying Goddess Mahankali’s ghatam belonging to the Sri AkkannaMadanna temple of Hari Bowli, Shalibanda. Thousands of devotees stood along the Lal Darwaza, Haribowli Charminar, and Nayapul procession routes to watch the glittering and colourful convoy of ghatams. People welcomed the procession from the many stages erected on the route by offering flowers.

The procession was led by Sri AkkannaMadannatemple committee, where Ghatam deity was atop an elephant Rupavathi, which was brought from Karnataka. It was their 76th annual procession. City Police Commissioner KothakotaSreenivasa Reddy flagged off the procession by performing puja to the Goddesses on the elephant.

Earlier in the day, Rangam was held at AkkannaMadanna Temple by the oracle-teller, Anuradha. She predicted that the State will observe good rains and protect all those who are suffering from various health problems.

A total of 25 ghatams of major temples were included in the procession, like MateshwariMutyalamma Temple Bela, Bangaru Maisamma Temple Haribowli, Mahakaleshwar Temple Mir Alam Mandi, Kota Maisamma Temple Alijah Kotla, Bangaru Maisamma Temple Magar Ki Bowli, NallaPochamma Temple Murad Mahal, and several others.

The celebrations started with the pooja in the wee hours. Several hundred devotees took part in pooja in various temples in the city. At around 11 am the PothurajuSwagatham was organised.

Potharaju was seen going around the surrounding areas of the temple, showering blessings believed to safeguard devotees from evil spirits. The dances by potharajus, cultural programmes, and other folk artists enthralled the devotees. A dozen folk artists performed in the procession, which was the centre of attention. Devotees who were sitting on both sides of the roads witnessed the colourful procession.

The procession started from Hari Bowli and passed through Maisamma Mahankali temple in Bela, Nehru Statue, Lal Darwaza x roads, Shalibanda, passing through Charminar, Pathergatti, Madina, and culminated at the Matha temple at Delhi Darwaza near Musi River in Nayapul.

The city police made tight security arrangements for the smooth conduct of the two-day grand festivities. Over 200 CCTV cameras were installed at the temple and nearby areas. A larger number of female constables were deployed to assist the devotees arriving at the temple. Police personnel were also deployed near the mosques throughout the route.

Around 2,000 police personnel like the Rapid Action Force (RAF), traffic police, Law and Order police, bomb squads, SHE teams, and crime teams were deployed.